30-day challenge: live a more balanced & happy life!

One thing a lot of human beings are impressively good at: being chaotic. Cleaning our room like once per month, never throwing anything away but putting it in a drawer someplace: we just might need it! But we know: we will not need it. That characteristic, being chaotic, is making our lives more difficult as the truth is simple: the more chaotic our environment is, the more our minds are, too.

As I was thinking of this month’s blogposts-list, I noticed my room and the untidiness of it. I felt that because of the mess around me, I felt like a mess myself. Once I had cleaned my room & vacuumed, I immediately felt better and less.. well, messed up. And then the idea came to me: a 30-day challenge where you work on balancing your life & being happy, every day.

In order to become less chaotic and more happy, I created this 30-day challenge with small or ‘big tasks’. They may not all seem useful or logic, but doing them will clear your mind and make you more aware of the lifestyle you are living. They are all related to balancing your life, creating a more comfortable space around you and working on yourself, so read on & start the challenge!

Want to join me in the challenge? Follow me on Instagram & let me know you’ve joined by using the hashtag #30daychallengeintellectualdork (yeah that is a long hashtag, my apologies:) or tag me: @intellectualdork. I would love to see you grow & participate!

Day 1: Sell/give away 1 or 2 books you will not read or have read already. Why would you keep it if you’re not going to re-read it again? Be strict and give them away.

Day 2: Pick up all laundry that’s been laying on your floor or on ‘the chair’ and wash it. Try to make this a habit, but start off with today.

Day 3: Declutter your photo gallery (on your phone or laptop).

Day 4: Pick up everything that belongs in the garbage can (every package, food that has expired, etc.) and throw it away.

Day 5: Sell/give away 1 or 2 books, again. If you do not have more books, get rid of old CD’s or movies.

Day 6: do a 10-minute clean up. All the things you don’t use: get rid of it or store it where it is deserving of its spot. Do not keep things you will not use in the future, this will only fill your house, not your heart.

Want to make your room more comfortable and like home? Check out these adjustments & get inspired here!

Day 7: Declutter your watch-later on YouTube. Perhaps you never use it, but I certainly do and out of the 200 videos I have in that playlist, 100 are not even useful anymore. So declutter & be proud!

Day 8: Sort your clothes by season. Winter clothes go into the winter-pile, summer clothes into the summer-pile: that kind of sorting.

Day 9: Get rid of the clothes you don’t like. Really. It might be hard but if you do not feel comfortable wearing that sweater: get rid of it. It will only make you feel better.

Day 10: Sell/give away 5 books/CD’s/movies. This is the last day you have to give away books but I’ve just noticed I have so many useless books in my home, I know I will feel better once they’re gone, so I encourage you to do the same.

Day 11: Declutter your wallet. Lose all the receipts you don’t need anymore, gift cards, everything that is not necessary in your wallet.

Day 12: Make a To-Do list of things you never do, but should, and then finish off that list. Whether it is buying new pillows, cleaning your attic: the tasks you always skipped have been saved for this day or for a planned day in the future: time to really grow & feel better!

Day 13: Set a 20-minute timer (or something around that time if you’d like) and reply to all the messages you haven’t replied to yet. Whether it is on WhatsApp, e-mail, Facebook, Instagram or anywhere else, you always have messages you’ve never replied on in the past. Either reply now or delete the conversation, make sure you start tomorrow with a clean sheet!

Day 14: Sell/give away every CD you don’t like anymore or you haven’t listened to in the last 6 months. Be tough & be stress-free at the end!

Day 15: Wash all the pillow sheets. Also the ones on your couch or the ones you never use. You’d be surprised if you knew how much dirt is on every pillow, so be healthy & wash them!

Day 16: Get rid of old masks/cremes you don’t use. We all have a whole cabin filled with bathroom-related things, but do we really need all of them? Minimizing is one of the most important aspects of living a balanced life, so start out with decluttering that cabin.

Day 17: Throw away old or uncomfortable lingerie. When you wear something that doesn’t feel pretty or comfortable, you will not be confident. Declutter your lingerie drawer and buy replacing items (if you can).

Day 18: Write down 5 things you’re grateful for, 5 people you’re grateful for and 5 events that have changed you. Reflecting & showing gratitude is crucial to living a happy lifestyle. Try to make this a habit by writing this down every day, even if it is just writing down 3 things you are grateful for, and feel yourself become more positive by the minute!

Day 19: Plan one day this upcoming month that will be completely free. No appointments, no studying, no work: a free day. Use this day as a self-care day and a relax day. Just because you deserve it.

Want to grow? Read 7 questions to ask yourself & to answer at the end of every month here!

Day 20: Get rid of old candles or create new candles with the old ones. I’m sure that, if you love candles just as much as I do (or not of course:), you have old candles standing everywhere. Candles you can’t light anymore or candles that just look… horrible. Get rid of them or create new candles out of them and feel less messed up immediately!

Day 21: Wash bed sheets + something you rarely wash. I don’t know about you, but if it was up to me, I’d wash my sheets once per 6 months. It just takes me time I’d much rather put into something different but I know that I have to do it. Wash your sheets plus something else that you always forget to wash, such as pillow sheets (but you’ve washed those already, if you’ve been following this challenge:) or your placemats.

Day 22: Declutter your ‘useless things-drawer’. We all have that drawer where we will just put in everything that we don’t know where to place at that moment. The drawer full with crap is waiting for you to declutter it, so do it today and feel less stressed immediately!

Day 23: Pick up laundry, again. It has been 21 days since you’ve last done this following the challenge, but if you’ve sticked to it, today should be a free day. If it’s not, just pick up all your laundry and wash it. You’ll feel more happy afterwards & you can be proud!

Day 24: Create places for everything. I read this somewhere and honestly, I’d never thought of this, weird enough. Decide where you will work on your job, where your keys will lay at all times, where you will lay down your to-read books. Creating certain places for everything will help you live a more balanced and clear life as you will have steady environments that you can design especially for that one activity/object.

Day 25: Declutter your bathroom. You might have already cleaned out one cabinet but today, check your entire bathroom for things you don’t really need, are empty or are unhealthy for you. Be tough today, because it might be hard throwing away things. But you need to realize that in order to live a clear lifestyle, you have to minimize. Declutter & grow!

Day 26: Purge your kitchen cabinets. Do the same activity you did yesterday, but now you switch to the kitchen!

Day 27: Clean your car. In this cold weather, you perhaps don’t fancy washing your car, but even vacuuming it and throwing away every piece of ‘crap’ in your car will give you a more relaxed feeling the next time you drive in your car.

Day 28: Get rid of old jewelry. Old necklaces, not-so-pretty bracelets, you recognize the feeling of looking at your jewelry and not being satisfied? Here comes the change! Every piece of jewelry you do not like, throw it away, sell it or give it away. Follow your gut and feel more confident the next time you wear jewelry!

Day 29: Declutter 2 other cabinets. Whether it is in your living room, bedroom or another room, cleaning out 2 more cabinets will give you an even more relaxed feeling.

Day 30: It is your last day! Reflect on how you started and how you feel now. Your last day will be filled with cleaning up your bedroom and living room. Afterwards: you can look back an be proud of yourself!

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This was it! Try to be consistent and really make the change and I hope to see you in the comments below or on Instagram!

X

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